Song · Pete Townshend
“A Little Is Enough” by Pete Townshend
From the album Empty Glass (1980)
“A Little Is Enough” by Pete Townshend appears on 8 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1999 and 2026. It was first released in 1980 on the album Empty Glass. Its best result is #205 on the KSHE 95 U-Man 500 (2026). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,271 alternative song of all time.
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"A Little Is Enough" comes from Empty Glass, Pete Townshend's third solo album, released in 1980, and it's the Who's guitarist working through a marriage in trouble with more hope than bitterness. He wrote it about trying to make the best of things with his wife, Karen, and the spark came from Adi Irani, secretary to his spiritual guru Meher Baba, who was passing through London. Townshend told him his wife now loved him only a little; Irani beamed and said love has no limits, so a little would do.
Chris Thomas produced it, and Townshend built it the same way he'd made "Let My Love Open the Door", singing and playing guitar and synthesizer, with Tony Butler on bass, Mark Brzezicki on drums, John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards and Peter Hope-Evans adding harmonica. It rings out bright and plainspoken, a love song with the bruises left in.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 877 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 928 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 931 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 931 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2003 | 917 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2004 | 917 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 918 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
| 2026 | 205 | KSHE 95 | KSHE 95 U-Man 500 (2026) | 499 |
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